Inject Images and Social Integration Into Your Press Releases With PitchEngine

Inject Images and Social Integration Into Your Press Releases With PitchEngine
How To Profitably Pamper Your Customers
A Simple Strategy For Every Marketing Dollar You Spend
How to Host an Eco-Friendly Holiday Party
Blockbuster, Dish Network Court Smartphone Market

Posted: 06 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST

Spreading the word about your company through press releases, while valuable, can be a lackluster experience. Though the sole purpose press release distribution sites is normally to relay information quickly and simply so that it can reach the right people, the content discovery process has changed.

So shouldn't the content creation process change along with it?

Social marketing platform PitchEngine recently went through a site redesign, making both its home page and the pages for company pitches more focused on visuals, other types of media, and social interactions instead of just plain text information.

PitchEngine already placed a lot of emphasis on visuals and media, along with social integrations, but the new redesign brings those aspects to the forefront for businesses looking to extend their reach.

Specifically, PitchEngine has added a redesigned homepage and pitch pages, social reporting, a simplified content editor, and mobile apps for Android and iOS.

The photo shows the new layout of a company's pitch. On the left, you can see a large photo to accompany the story, along with a smaller logo at the top. On the top right, there are social buttons that allow users to find and share the content on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. And below that, you'll find a headline, sample tweet, and the news story itself.

To use the service, businesses can sign up for one of three plans. The basic plan is available for free and includes unlimited pitches. More in-depth plans range from $39 per month to $99 per month and include features like search optimization, analytics, and a hosted newsroom.

Once you've signed up, PitchEngine offers a simple template to create a pitch, including photos and other media.

This focus on media is very much in line with the way people's habits are changing when it comes to discovering new content online. Many look for interesting visuals and similar media to capture their interest rather than reading through a whole story or news release.

In addition, the social integrations are pretty vital to getting your message not only seen but also shared.

PitchEngine was founded in 2009 as an alternative to the traditional press release distribution site. It now serves more than 45,000 throughout the world.

The post Inject Images and Social Integration Into Your Press Releases With PitchEngine appeared first on Small Business Trends.

How To Profitably Pamper Your Customers

Posted: 06 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST

Regardless of the industry you're in, it is critical to know which of your customers are profitable and which ones strain your resources. If the most extreme cases, it could even make sense to fire particularly troublesome customers.

However, it is just as important to go the extra mile for your most valuable customers and reward them for their loyalty and continued business. Don't just throw gifts at them, though. Not only does a haphazard, untargeted approach decrease the likelihood that your customers will remember or care about your efforts, but you will waste time and money, as well.

customer outreach

In order to take a smart approach to customer appreciation, you first need to measure the profitability of each customer. To get a complete view into the total costs for each customer, all employees should track the time spent on any and all customer activities.

An automated time-tracking system will make it much easier to determine these costs and will give you a vantage viewpoint into your company's activities. Also consider any value that your customers offer you aside from direct sales. Customers who are willing to go the extra mile by referring new customers, participating in case studies, or otherwise improving your brand can offer a great ROI for you, and that needs to be considered.

Great customer service is always important, but aside from that, the best way to endear your company to a customer is to deeply understand their needs. This may require a time investment, but if you can understand what your customer wants, you can focus your efforts to help them achieve it.

Position your company as an important part of your customers' future strategies and they will likely pay you back many times over. And you'll be able to intelligently plot out the appropriate amount of time for each customer since you already determined their overall profitability.

Of course, not every customer will be responsive to your outreach efforts. Even if you have determined that you can devote time to developing a relationship, some customers just aren't interested in anything beyond your core product. That is fine. Scale back your efforts, but don't completely cease them. Sometimes, persistence pays off.

Similarly, keep an eye to the future. Companies often change strategy and focus which could present a future opportunity to reengage. Be ready to step up your activities when it's the right time for them.

The most successful targeted customer outreach programs are mutually beneficial.

We have implemented a deep integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting systems for some of our customers because our software is a flexible add-on to Dynamics. Although we originally implemented this for just one customer, we have been able to capitalize and expand on the success of the original offering.

If it weren't for a specific instance of customer outreach, we wouldn't have discovered a profitable market for this business.

Take customer outreach seriously and treat it with as much respect as any other business project. The results can be measured in your bottom line, and you may uncover unexpected benefits that you might have otherwise missed.

Move forward intelligently, with an eye to your costs and capabilities, and the rewards will be substantial.

Customer Outreach Photo via Shutterstock

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A Simple Strategy For Every Marketing Dollar You Spend

Posted: 06 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST

Even though you're a small business, an overwhelming number of marketing opportunities probably come your way weekly, if you really pay attention. Think of the ads you could buy in the local newspaper, community magazines and in the program for your daughter's upcoming recital.

There's also affordable access to local radio and television stations, especially in smaller towns. Without too much effort a modest, as well as robust, marketing budget can quickly get away from you.

Before spending another marketing dime in print or online consider a few questions that need serious attention. Taking the time to answer them will help you maximize your budget and make it easier for you to say "no" when you need to.

Find Your People

Understanding your target market is key to identifying the best marketing opportunities for your business. In every situation you want to know:

"Who's going to see my marketing items and are those people my target audience?"

Of course, you can't answer that question if you don't know who your people are in the first place. So take the time to get clear and it'll make it much easier to respond to any marketing opportunity as well as write the copy for your website.

You Need as Much Time as Possible

When you pay for marketing, in effort and money, you want to make sure your audience has enough time to see and respond to your message. Before that dollar leaves your wallet, ask the salesman (that's what they are):

"How long will my marketing message/ad/banner (whatever you're buying) be in front of your audience?"

If it's a coffee table magazine that people tend to keep, you may get a better bang for your buck with that versus a free paper that quickly reaches the trash can or recycle bin. Remember, you want as much time as possible to get your message across.

Say the Most in the Time You Have

Print ads are limited by size. Radio and television ads are limited by time. Instead of trying to say everything in the seconds and space that you have, get your core message out. Ask yourself (and your team):

"What message does our audience need to hear in this setting and how do we need to design it in order to get the most attention?"

Decide the one thing that you want your target audience to do, and then focus on promoting that message in that particular ad. Saying everything at one time can be overwhelming and result in your audience hearing nothing but noise.

Loud and Clear Photo via Shutterstock

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How to Host an Eco-Friendly Holiday Party

Posted: 06 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST

Hosting a party for your employees or customers is a nice way to spread some goodwill around the holiday season. It's also a chance to reinforce your commitment to being environmentally conscious. After all, a party can create a huge clutter of unnecessary waste if you're not careful.

How you throw a party also reflects on your business, and everything from the food you serve to the dishes you use to the party favors you hand out can either suggest your business is committed to environmental sustainability – or scream that it's very much not.

Here are some tips for throwing an eco-friendly party:

Serve Earth-Friendly Foods

A holiday spread with off-season foods (such as lettuce and tomato salads in December) or foreign delicacies such as French cheese means you're burning a lot more fossil fuels to bring the food to your table.

Try as much as possible to source foods locally and pick those with USDA organic or similar labels that indicate more sustainable practices went into the production of the food. With the extra energy and water that goes into raising livestock, also make sure to include some meat-free dishes. (Your vegetarian guests will thank you, too.)

Go Local With the Drink

With the craft beer boom taking place in many parts of the country, it should also be less of a problem to find a local brew to serve up at the holiday gathering. If you're going you want to serve soda, go with aluminum cans instead of plastic bottles, because aluminum cans are easier to recycle.

Remember to recycle the cans.

Think Green With the Dishes and Decorations

If possible, use reusable dishware and utensils at your party, since that will create little or no waste beyond the water to wash them. If that's not feasible, at least look for eco-friendly alternatives, such as biodegradable or compostable dishes and silverware – which several major retailers now sell. Also think of creative, low-waste ways to decorate, such as using holiday lights from home or reusing decorations from past events.

Want to have a Christmas tree? A real tree from a local tree farm may take less of an environmental toll than a plastic tree, unless you plan to keep and reuse the plastic tree for many years.

Wrap in a Donation

Instead of handing out party favors, which often get tossed anyway, consider making a donation to a nonprofit in your community – environmental or not.

It's a good chance to bring attention to an important cause.

Consider Outsourcing

Looking to splurge on the holiday party by taking your employees or other guests to a posh location for a blowout? Many restaurants and event facilities, as well as caterers, now tout their eco-friendly practices and services – so you don't have to worry so much about it.

For more inspiration for eco-friendly event planning check out “How to Throw a Green Party” on Epicurious. There are also some “Easy Eco-Friendly Party” ideas on The Nest and “7 Stylish (and Eco-Friendly) Party Ideas” on Oprah.

Eco Friendly Holiday Photo via Shutterstock

The post How to Host an Eco-Friendly Holiday Party appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Blockbuster, Dish Network Court Smartphone Market

Posted: 06 Dec 2012 02:30 AM PST

Blockbuster, the video rental and retail chain acquired by Dish Network Inc. last year, is courting the mobile market and hoping to start selling its own smartphones soon. The move is another indication of the trend towards mobile that owners and managers of businesses large and small should already be watching. But it’s also a good reminder of the need to stay flexible in a rapidly shifting marketplace. Blockbuster makes the move after competition from Netflix challenged its position in the movie rental niche. Your business should be ready to shift direction quickly, too, if your market or your customers’ needs change.

Shifting Sand

From movies to mobile. When Dish bought Blockbuster last year, the video rental chain was already in bankruptcy after a major disruptor, Netflix Inc., entered the market with a mail-order service and streaming online video, decimating the video rental establishment. Whether the plan to enter the booming but crowded mobile market is successful remains to be seen, but the Blockbuster strategy is a good example of what many businesses must be willing to do when markets change. Bloomberg

Ahead of the curve. One way even small businesses can get ahead of the curve on changes in the market is to use new tech tools that allow them to read customer trends. In a recent podcast, Ramon Ray, Regional Development Director at Infusionsoft and Editor of Smallbiz Technology, explains the benefits of Customer Relationship Management software. The software helps businesses of all sizes use data collected on customers’ past behavior to predict their needs in the future. Businesses can then find ways to meet those needs as the market changes. Smallbiz Technology

Tech & Technique

Direct response. Just as your business must be responsive to a customer’s needs, your Website must be responsive to your audience. As more and more people are visiting your Website on smartphones or tablets instead of on PCs, it’s important to have your Website designed so that viewing content on mobile devices is as quick and easy as it is on, say, a laptop. As we see in Blockbuster’s new strategy, catering to the mobile market is important. It doesn’t take guess work to figure out your business must get ahead on this trend. Capture Commerce

Built for speed. As many resources as large businesses may have, they suffer from some major weaknesses too. Reacting to change too slowly is one of the most important of these and for all the money and effort a large company can put behind change once the decision is made, smaller businesses will always be faster. Blockbuster has been slow to adapt to the changes in the market, but its size and the size of its parent company might both be factors. Small businesses can reinvent themselves quickly. Be sure to use this advantage. Amelia Champion

Other strengths. There are other strengths a small business possesses too, writes business blogger John Jantsch. Many of them spring from the unique view small business owners have of their markets and the inventiveness they have honed when doing more with less. If you have some strengths you feel John has forgotten in his post, please leave them in the comment section below. Small businesses often have a narrow focus, an agile mindset, and a personal view that sets them apart and helps them survive even great upheaval. Duct Tape Marketing

Change is Good

Revenue boost. Small businesses use their agility to survive tough times and can take advantage of many different techniques to do it. For example, online business owner Lisa Irby gives this simple rundown of ways you could overhaul your blog or Website quickly to help your small business generate more revenue. The Web approach is one way to generate more earnings as your business is in transition or is seeing an existing business model decline. Like Blockbuster’s bold move to stay in the game, your small business can use its resources to turn things around. 2 Create a Website

Fill a need. It may sound obvious, but ultimately the key to staying ahead of the curve is to fill a need. We live in an age where mobile communication is more important than having a store where you can rent movies, for example. In this post, Jason Freedman, founder of 42Floors, a company that makes it easier to find office space rentals and commercial real estate listings, tells us a bit more about how to do that. Check it out! Sprouter Blog

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